Due to the improvement in the recurrence-free and overall survival by adjuvant chemotherapy, surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy is currently considered the standard treatment for resectable pancreatic cancer. However, a significant proportion (>25%) of patients cannot receive adjuvant treatment due to the morbidity of pancreas surgery. Neoadjuvant (preoperative) chemotherapy appears particularly attractive since it can be applied to all patients and has resulted in a significant histological tumor response with a median survival superior to adjuvant chemotherapy in a recent prospective phase II trial.